redcapAPI (version 2.10.0)

importRecords: Import Records to a Project

Description

These methods enable the user to import new records or update existing records to a project.

Usage

importRecords(
  rcon,
  data,
  overwriteBehavior = c("normal", "overwrite"),
  returnContent = c("count", "ids", "nothing", "auto_ids"),
  returnData = FALSE,
  logfile = "",
  ...
)
# S3 method for redcapApiConnection
importRecords(
  rcon,
  data,
  overwriteBehavior = c("normal", "overwrite"),
  returnContent = c("count", "ids", "nothing", "auto_ids"),
  returnData = FALSE,
  logfile = "",
  force_auto_number = FALSE,
  ...,
  batch.size = -1
)

Value

importRecords, when returnData = FALSE, returns the content from the API response designated by the returnContent argument.

importRecords, when returnData = TRUE, returns the data frame that was internally prepared for import. This data frame has values transformed from R objects to character values the API will accept.

Arguments

rcon

A redcapConnection object.

data

A data.frame to be imported to the project.

overwriteBehavior

character(1). One of c("normal", "overwrite"). "normal" prevents blank fields from overwriting populated fields. "overwrite" causes blanks to overwrite data in the database.

returnContent

character(1). One of c("count", "ids", "nothing", "auto_ids"). 'count' returns the number of records imported; 'ids' returns the record ids that are imported; 'nothing' returns no message; 'auto_ids' returns a list of pairs of all record IDs that were imported. If used when force_auto_number = FALSE, the value will be changed to 'ids'.

returnData

logical(1). When TRUE, prevents the REDCap import and instead returns the data frame that would have been given for import. This is sometimes helpful if the API import fails without providing an informative message. The data frame can be written to a csv and uploaded using the interactive tools to troubleshoot the problem.

logfile

character(1). An optional filepath (preferably .txt) in which to print the log of errors and warnings about the data. When "", the log is printed to the console.

...

Arguments to pass to other methods

force_auto_number

logical(1). If record auto-numbering has been enabled in the project, it may be desirable to import records where each record's record name is automatically determined by REDCap (just as it does in the user interface). When TRUE, the record names provided in the request will not be used (although they are still required in order to associate multiple rows of data to an individual record in the request); instead those records in the request will receive new record names during the import process. It is recommended that the user use returnContent = "auto_ids" when force_auto_number = TRUE

batch.size

integerish(1). Specifies the number of subjects to be included in each batch of a batched export or import. Non-positive numbers export/import the entire operation in a single batch. Batching may be beneficial to prevent tying up smaller servers. See Details.

Details

importRecords prevents the most common import errors by testing the data before attempting the import. Namely

1. Check that all variables in data exist in the REDCap data dictionary.

2. Check that the record id variable exists

3. Force the record id variable to the first position in the data frame (with a warning)

4. Remove calculated fields (with a warning)

5. Verify that REDCap date fields are represented in the data frame as either character, POSIXct, or Date class objects.

6. Determine if values are within their specified validation limits.

See the documentation for validateImport() for detailed explanations of the validation.

A 'batched' import is one where the export is performed over a series of API calls rather than one large call. For large projects on small servers, this may prevent a single user from tying up the server and forcing others to wait on a larger job.

BioPortal Fields

Text fields that are validation enabled using the BioPortal Ontology service may be imported by providing the coded value. Importing the coded value does not, however, guarantee that the labeled value will be immediately available. Labels for BioPortal values are cached on the REDCap server in a process that occurs when viewing data in the user interface. Thus, if the label has not be previously cached on the server, the code will be used to represent both the code and the label.

See Also

exportRecords(),
deleteRecords(),
exportRecordsTyped()

Examples

if (FALSE) {
unlockREDCap(connections = c(rcon = "project_alias"), 
             url = "your_redcap_url", 
             keyring = "API_KEYs", 
             envir = globalenv())

# Import records
NewData <- data.frame(record_id = c(1, 2, 3), 
                      age = c(27, 43, 32), 
                      date_of_visit = rep(Sys.Date(), 3))
importRecords(rcon, 
              data = NewData)
              
              
# Import records and save validation info to a file
NewData <- data.frame(record_id = c(1, 2, 3), 
                      age = c(27, 43, 32), 
                      date_of_visit = rep(Sys.Date(), 3))
importRecords(rcon, 
              data = NewData, 
              logfile = "import-validation-notes.txt")      

}